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CVE-2025-21606
January 17, 2025
stats is a macOS system monitor in for the menu bar. The Stats application is vulnerable to a local privilege escalation due to the insecure implementation of its XPC service. The application registers a Mach service under the name "eu.exelban.Stats.SMC.Helper". The associated binary, eu.exelban.Stats.SMC.Helper, is a privileged helper tool designed to execute actions requiring elevated privileges on behalf of the client, such as setting fan modes, adjusting fan speeds, and executing the "powermetrics" command. The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the "shouldAcceptNewConnection" method, which unconditionally returns YES (or true), allowing any XPC client to connect to the service without any form of verification. As a result, unauthorized clients can establish a connection to the Mach service and invoke methods exposed by the HelperTool interface. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to modify the hardware settings of the user’s device and execute arbitrary code with root privileges. This issue has been addressed in version 2.11.21 and all users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
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CVSS v4
Base Score:
8.7
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
PASSIVE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
HIGH
Vulnerable System Integrity
HIGH
Vulnerable System Availability
HIGH
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
8.8
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Weakness Type (CWE)
Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
EPSS
Base Score:
0.14